Rashtrapati Nilayam


Rashtrapati Nilayam formerly known as Residency House is the official retreat of the President of India located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, where the President stays for at least two weeks during winter and conducts official business. It is also used as a guest house for visiting dignitaries. It is located in Bollaram in Secunderabad, a neighborhood of Hyderabad. It was thrown open for public viewing from 1 January to 10 January, with entry being free.

History

Originally the Residency House, was constructed in 1860 by Nizam Nazir-ud-Dowla. It became the country house of the British Resident at Secunderabad. After the Hyderabad state's liberation in 1948, it became President's retreat and used as Southern Sojourn.

Architecture

The 16-room estate is spread over an area of, consisting of single storied building besides visitors' quarters that can accommodate 150 people. It has a Dining Hall, Darbar Hall, Morning room, Cinema Hall etc. Unique aspect of this Rashtrapati Nilayam is that the kitchen and dining hall are independent buildings connected with a tunnel to take food.
The retreat's premises comprises landscaped garden, seasonal flowering plants and display of potted plants around the main building, natural cascading water falls and seven different types of nutrition gardens of Mango, Pomegranate, Guava, Amla, Coconut and Cheeku.

Garden

The Herbal Garden, inaugurated in December 2009, of medicinal and aromatic plants is spread over 7,000 sq metres, has about 116 species of medicinal and aromatic plants including sarpagandha, kalabandha, citronella, lemon grass, khus, geranium, coriander, sandalwood, tuber rose, jasmine, kalmegh, tulsi etc. The garden was built by CPWD and the Telangana Medicinal Plants Board, while Rashtrapati Bhavan and National Medicinal Plants Board funded the project.